Author: kira
Title: Tale 10:All is finally right in the world…
Pairing: Bankotsu/Jakotsu
Genre: romance/ drama
Word Count: 3,730
WARNINGS: None, as yaoi doesn't count.
Summary: With a kiss and a tender touch, the boys work through the problems they faced in Tale 9.

888

Jakotsu leaned tiredly against the post that held up the veranda's roof. He was watching the full moon, imaging the rabbit he saw on its surface was hard at work making mochi. It had been nearly two months since the "ninja" incident, during which Bankotsu plied him with everything he could think of, from sweets and trinkets to lavish gifts of the finest kimono. The eighteen year old felt confused over why the younger boy felt the need to give him all these things as he had already forgiven him for hitting him. He had reasoned it was partially his own fault anyway for wanting to do something he knew Bankotsu found annoying. As a result, they had reached a stalemate in their relationship, despite talking it out and working hard to rebuild the shattered trust.

The cross-dresser sighed. He hated sleeping alone in their room, while Bankotsu slept in the former daimyo's rooms; deep within the palace they called their "home base." He also hated the way everyone pretended everything was alright when it was clearly far from it. Heart-sore, Jakotsu slowly moved to get up and go inside as the moon no longer held its special magic without Bankotsu at his side. He was about to leave when a faint movement in the shadows caught his attention. He felt naked without Jakotsutou's weight against his back and vulnerable without the fifteen year old around to guard his back, should he have to fight.

Jakotsu watched as the shadows slowly coalesced into a vaguely human shape. He tensed, afraid it really was a ninja coming to harm him this time. "Who's there?" he called out. Before the approaching person could answer, the cross-dresser recognized him. "Aniki-chan!" he cried. Jumping off the low veranda, the eighteen year raced across the courtyard garden.

Bankotsu hurried towards him, catching the cross-dresser when he launched himself at him. It felt good to wrap his arms around him again and breathe in the scent of his perfume. And judging by the way Jakotsu covered his face in tender little kisses; he felt the same way too. "I'm so sorry I hurt you," Bankotsu whispered against his paramour's cheek.

"It's all my fault," Jakotsu said when his lover set him down on his feet. "I flirt so much with Ren; even I believe at times that we're actually lovers…" He looked away and back. "Truthfully, Aniki-chan, I probably would nookie with him if he ever gave in, not because I don't love you…" he whispered the word "love" so softly, Bankotsu was not even sure he had actually said it, "But because I find him attractive, and I want to show him things that'd make Sui happy…"

"Yeah…?" The fifteen year old found his paramour's honesty rather unsettling.

"And it wouldn't mean anything more to me than all those girls mean to you…"

Bankotsu nodded. "You know if you did, I'd probably kill you…"

Jakotsu, thinking he was joking, giggled. "I know… but I'd die happy knowing it was by your hand."

"And I'd probably kill myself too."

"Yeah…?" Jakotsu's look of surprise melted into a warm smile. "Really, you would?"

Bankotsu nodded. "I wouldn't want to live without you." He looked the older boy straight in the eye. "Seriously… I…" He heaved a heavy sigh. "All I know is …" he trailed off helplessly.

Jakotsu kissed him. "It's okay, Aniki-chan, just knowing you would is enough…"

They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. They stood there, facing each other, looking for something, anything, to say to break it. Finally Bankotsu looked away and said, "I'd better go… You look tired, Sweetness…"

Jakotsu nodded. "I am. I hate sleeping alone, so I lie awake at night, wishing you'd come back. When I saw you, I thought I was dreaming…" You don't need to know I was scared you were a real ninja…

"Yeah?"

"Yeah…" The cross-dresser nibbled daintily on his fingernail. "Ummm… Aniki-chan…?"

"What?"

"Will you come back and stay with me? Please… It's really lonely without you."

"I don't know…"

"Please…" Jakotsu took his hands in his. "I'll beg if you want me to… But it hurts seeing you everyday and I wonder if you still even like me any more…" His eyes welled up with tears. "This is most we've said to each other in days and I hate it!!"

"What if I…?"

"You won't," the cross-dresser quickly assured him.

"You don't know that."

Jakotsu sighed. "But I'm willing to chance it."

"Yeah…?"

"Yup! Cuz I think you really do love me as much as I love you, Aniki-chan." The cross-dresser cupped the younger boy's cheek. "And I don't think you'd hurt me again and I refuse to believe you meant to that time…"

Jakotsu's words stirred up emotions the younger boy thought he had buried, and feeling ashamed, he pulled away from his touch. As he turned to flee into the shadows, the cross-dresser caught his wrist.

"Please don't go, Aniki-chan…"

Bankotsu's face contorted with anger as he struggled in his lover's grip. "Let go of me!" he snarled.

His eyes welling up with tears, Jakotsu did as he was bidden.

Instead of leaving, Bankotsu found himself rooted to the spot. The cross-dresser's wounded expression hurt him deeply. He balled his fists, wanting to make the older boy hurt as much as he did. But he restrained himself, and closing his eyes, he simply leaned forward, resting his head on the startled cross-dresser's chest. When he felt Jakotsu tentatively put his arms around him, he burst into to tears, murmuring, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," over and over again as he cried himself out.

"Feel any better?" Jakotsu quietly asked.

The fifteen year old nodded wordlessly. He still clung to the older boy, who also made no move to let go of him.

"Let's go inside, Aniki-chan," Jakotsu murmured softly into the top of Bankotsu's head. "I'll make us some tea."

"Okay…"

Still clinging tightly to the cross-dresser, they made their way back to the room that had shared. Once inside, Bankotsu reached up and pulled Jakotsu's head down, kissing him with a fierceness that startled the older boy. Despite his paramour's struggles, the fifteen year old gave into his pent up lust.

"Please, Aniki-chan…Stop."

Bankotsu paid no attention to his pleas; he continued to kiss him, trailing a line of kisses down Jakotsu's neck. Pushing the cross-dresser's kimono off his shoulders, he licked, nipped and sucked the older boy's pale flesh.

"Please… Aniki-chan!" Jakotsu had wormed his hands between them, and giving the younger boy a shove, he managed to put some distance between them. "I missed you too, but…"

"What?"

Jakotsu sighed. "I missed the nookie and I love how eager you are, but…" he trailed off helplessly.

Bankotsu frowned.

"This feels like a rape, Aniki-chan…" he said honestly, "Not a fun romp or 'I missed you so much I could die' nookie…"

"Oh…"

"Yeah…" Jakotsu reached out, closing the distance between them, to cup the younger boy's cheek. "So umm… let's take it slow… and gentle" He leaned in and kissed Bankotsu. "And make it last until the moonlight fades into morning…" He said softly, before kissing him again, and slowly leading the younger boy towards his futon. "Wait here…" Jakotsu purred as he hurried over to blow out the single candle lighting his room. He turned, pausing briefly to let his eyes adjust to the dim light as the room was awash in shadows and the soft moonlight streaming in through the open shoji. He returned a minute later.

The fifteen year old wrapped his arms around his paramour, just holding him tight, and breathing in the faint scent of his perfume that clung to his kimono. He could almost, but not quite, forget how badly he had hurt the cross-dresser over what had been utter nonsense. The fact that Jakotsu had so readily forgiven him combined with his fear of doing it again, had kept him away. But Bankotsu sorely missed him and he was willing to do whatever the cross-dresser wanted just to spend time with him. Being together, while still keeping their distance, had lost all its charm weeks ago.

They slowly sank to floor, falling over onto the futon with a loud squeal from Jakotsu.

"Sssh… you'll wake everyone, Sweetness," Bankotsu whispered.

"Sorry, but that was a bit of a surprise…" the eighteen year old said. Jakotsu kissed him and he let his young lover's hands wander as they lay there. He missed the physical closeness as much as Bankotsu did, and while he wanted to drag out the moment for as long as they could, Jakotsu also wanted to hurry up and get to the "good part." So as his lover's hand caressed his thigh, Jakotsu lifted his leg and rested it on the younger boy's hip. It was all the encouragement he needed to go higher and the cross-dresser giggled softly when Bankotsu slid his hand up his bare thigh to cup the older boy's bottom.

The older boy was naked like a woman under his sleeping yukata, so it was not hard for Bankotsu to reach places normally hidden by his fundoshi. Kissing Jakotsu, he played with the cleft in his paramour's bottom, his fingers trying to gently part it so he could reach the prize, before sliding down to gently finger his heavy sack.

The cross-dresser moaned softly, the pleasure pooling deep in his cock as it slowly hardened under Bankotsu's playful touch. He wiggled his hips, trying to rub up against the younger boy's crotch. Failing miserably, he simply closed his eyes and let the waves of pleasure wash over him. It was not long before Jakotsu had rolled onto his back, his kimono open as Bankotsu blanketed him. The younger boy slowly made his way down, kissing and licking the pale flesh.

Bankotsu paused to suckle his paramour's left nipple, rolling the tiny nub of flesh with his tongue as the older boy softly voiced his pleasure. He repeated his ministration on its mate, although this time he went quicker. He had the feeling it would not be long before the cross-dresser climaxed and he wanted to pleasure him orally. So he quickly kissed his way down Jakotsu's torso, not even stopping to lick his navel, before engulfing his paramour's erection in his mouth. Bankotsu took his time there, flicking his tongue in all the right places as the cross-dresser inched his way closer to climax. Resting his hand on the older boy's thigh, he could feel him tensing.

Jakotsu felt his pleasure mounting, and his cock felt like a turgid column of sensations. He had forgotten how good his young lover was at sucking him off. A few minutes later, he reached his peak and unable to hold back, Jakotsu came with a load throaty moan. He simply lay there, as the waves of pleasure slowly receded until his breathing evened out. "That was…" he whispered.

"Good…?"

"Very good…" Jakotsu sighed.

Chuckling, Bankotsu got up and quickly stripped out of his clothes. His cock felt painfully hard and he fumbled with his apron-like fundoshi, cursing when the ties that held it on knotted. Sighing softly, Jakotsu came to his rescue, his long deft fingers making quick work of untying the knot. Putting his arms around the younger boy's neck, the older boy pulled him down on top of himself while Bankotsu kissed him long and hard. Slipping his tongue past Jakotsu's teeth, he explored the warm confines of his paramour's mouth.

Breaking the kiss and smiling impishly, the cross-dresser wrapped his legs around the younger boy's lower half. Giggling, he ran his heel up and down the cleft in Bankotsu's bottom.

"Do you mind?"

Jakotsu looked up coyly at him. "Mind what?"

"Stop doing that with your foot!"

"You mean this?" Jakotsu dug his heel into the younger boy's bottom.

"Yup."

"Oh…" Jakotsu said with all the seriousness he could muster, before erupting in a fit of giggles.

Bankotsu sighed. As annoyed as he was with his paramour's nonsense, he had missed it and he had to admit he liked it when Jakotsu giggled during sex. Grinning wickedly, the fifteen year old sat up and spat onto his hand, and using the spit as a makeshift lube, he rubbed it onto his cock. Bankotsu positioned himself with his hand against Jakotsu's tight entrance. A quick push and he was past the ring of muscle as his paramour clamped down around him.

The cross-dresser moaned as his young lover developed his rhythm. It had hurt, but Jakotsu saw it as a good pain and it was not long before he was beginning to become aroused again. Bankotsu occasionally bumped against the older boy's cock whenever he leaned close enough to kiss him. It was just enough tantalizing contact to set the cross-dresser over the edge again as the waves of pleasure washed over him, building towards another climax. He was glad the younger boy had chosen to face him when they nookied as it made him feel loved and valued by Bankotsu.

The fifteen year old held on as long as he could, but the waves of pleasure that settled into his groin were demanding he give into his release. Jakotsu's soft moans, the way his cock brushed against his stomach when he kissed him, never mind the sweet taste of those kisses, all added to the moment along with the feeling of being forgiven. And as Bankotsu reached his climax, pumping hard into his paramour, Jakotsu came again.

"That was good…" they chorused, laughing softly in the moonlit room as Bankotsu pulled out. He rested on top of Jakotsu, ignoring the warm, sticky mess between them. All he wanted to do was lie there forever with the older boy's arms wrapped around him, pulling him close.

"Aniki-chan-chan…" Jakotsu whispered between kisses.

"What…?"

The eighteen year old sighed softly. "As much as I'd love to stay here with you, I think we should go clean up…" he smiled impishly. "Unless you want me to lick you clean," he purred.

Bankotsu felt his cheeks heating up under his lover's intense stare. He had the feeling Jakotsu would happily eat him with a spoon and then some if he could. Then hit him. He realized exactly what his paramour was referring to and the thought of him eating his own spent lust had the younger boy mentally gagging. "Ummm…"

"The bathhouse it is," Jakotsu said softly as Bankotsu sat up and straddled his hips.

"Yeah…" The younger boy stayed put as he turned his head to look around for his clothes in the dark.

Jakotsu, correctly guessing what his lover was looking for, said, "Forget our clothes. It's dark and no one'll see us. And besides, even if they did, it's not like they haven't seen us naked before." He ran his hands lightly up his lover's thighs.

"But…" Bankotsu said as he got up off him.

"Any noise we make, they'll just think I got up to take a piss in the garden." He grinned. "That's it! We'll cut across in the garden, that way we won't wake anyone up. I promise to be good, so we'll be in and out in no time at all and back here before anyone realizes we're gone! And when we get back, they'll just think the other went and pissed."

"I don't know…"

"Trust me, I've gotten up plenty of times to go sit and stare at the stars, and Ren never wakes up and yells at me to go to sleep." Jakotsu giggled. "I swear snow falling from the sky normally wakes him up, but he never stirred the whole time you were…" The cross-dresser sighed.

"Gone…" Bankotsu finished for him. "Okay. Let's go."

Jakotsu giggled in reply as they stood up to leave. Taking the younger boy's hand, the two of them quietly headed to the open shoji. After telling Bankotsu to wait until he was in the garden before leaving the room, so that the song the nightingale floor sang would sound like someone coming and going rather than two people leaving, they left the room.

Running naked through the garden in the moonlight, the boys made their way unhindered to the bathhouse. Once there, they quickly clean themselves off amid the stolen kisses, despite Jakotsu's promise to behave. They had missed each other so much and the place held so many memories of the fun they had had there, that they could not help it. It was only the younger boy's stifled yawns that had them heading back to their room for some much needed sleep.

The trip back to their room was uneventful, except they were nearly caught once they had reached their room. By pure chance, Bankotsu had gone inside first, leaving Jakotsu in the garden. Renkotsu had chosen that moment to get up and complain, his irritation leaving him sputtering over Jakotsu's saucy remark about taking a piss. Groaning softly, the former monk, hissed at him to go to sleep.

"Fine…" Jakotsu said as he sauntered up out the garden stark naked.

"Where the hell are your clothes?"

"I left them inside as I was hot."

"Only you," Renkotsu muttered irritably as he turned and headed back inside the room he shared with Suikotsu.

"Good night, Ren." The cross-dresser giggled.

Renkotsu slammed the shoji shut in reply.

Putting his finger to his lips, Jakotsu entered his room. "If he knows you're back here, he's going to bitch about it all night…" he silently mouthed.

"Hunh?"

"Never mind…" Jakotsu whispered. "Let's get some sleep." Leaving the shoji open, he took his young lover by the arm, leading him back to the futon. Once there, they knelt and crawled inside. As the eighteen year old lay on his back, Bankotsu snuggled up next to him.

Resting his head on Jakotsu's chest, the fifteen year old quickly fell asleep, listening to his heartbeat. The older boy remained a wake a bit longer. He was afraid that if he fell asleep, he would wake up to find his young lover gone. Wrapping his arm around Bankotsu's shoulders, Jakotsu finally closed his eyes and let sleep over take him as well.

Several hours later, Bankotsu was awaked by someone frantically calling for them. As he slowly surfaced form his dream, he realized it was only the fire-breather looking for him. Mentally groaning, he slowly slipped out from under Jakotsu's arm and sat up. "I'm here, Ren, what do you want?" He squinted at Renkotsu's backlit form in the open shoji.

"Oo-Aniki…I, uh… You were..." he said as the sounds of someone else approaching got louder until Suikotsu stood next to him.

"Good morning, Oo-Aniki."

"Morning, Sui…" Bankotsu tiredly rubbed his hands over his face.

"Sorry to wake you, we thought something happened to you when we couldn't find you in your rooms."

The fifteen year old yawned. "Oh…"

"Yeah… a message came in about a possible job and well…" Renkotsu said as Jakotsu rolled onto his back.

The cross-dresser mewled like a cat as he stretched, before sitting up. "Why's everyone up so early?" He squinted in the harsh noon light that streamed into their room.

"It's lunchtime, Jak, and when Oo-Aniki missed that and breakfast, word went out and we were looking for him."

"No one missed me?"

"Well, you had taken to sleeping late, so we decided not to disturb you," Suikotsu replied. "Speaking of disturbing, we're sorry to have bothered you." The two of them left.

Jakotsu pouted. "How come everyone missed you and not me?"

"That's because they probably would have heard you. Their room is right next door… Remember all the times Ren used to yell at us at night to go to sleep and stop rabbiting?"

The cross-dresser giggled. "Oh yeah..."Smiling impishly, he added, "Wanna give 'em another reason to yell at us?"

Bankotsu grinned, "Hell yeah!" he said as he moved to gently push his paramour onto his back. They kissed.

Breaking it, the cross-dresser, as he wriggled out from under his lover, said, "I've gotta go piss."

"Jakotsu!"

The cross-dresser left the futon. "I promise to be quick…" He kissed the younger boy, who wound up joining him a few minutes later on the low veranda, before they both went back inside for a bit of fun.

A few days later, Renkotsu found them rabbiting in the library. Instead of getting angry over what he called a "violation of his personal area," he shook his head, and ignoring them, he walked right past them.

"Ren?" Jakotsu called out when he noticed they had "company."

"What, Jak?"

"You're not mad?" he asked when Bankotsu paused in his rhythm.

"No," the fire-breather said when he headed back, a few scrolls in hand. He stopped in front of them, trying hard to look indifferent to their behavior. "Oddly enough, as irritating as this normally would be, I'm, ummm…" he trailed off at a loss for words, his discomfiture beginning to match Bankotsu's.

"What?" Jakotsu said impishly as he looked up over his shoulder at him.

He heaved a long suffering sigh. "As much as it pains me to say this, I'm glad you two are back to rabbiting."

"Yeah?"

"Yup… it means all's right in the world again. Now if you two will excuse me, as I'm sure you have something much better to do than, uh…" he chuckled, "chat with me." Bankotsu flushed a deep red when he added, "See, even Oo-Aniki aggress with me… now don't mind me and uh… carry on as if I never came in here." And with that he left.

"Now where were we…?" Jakotsu purred.

"Ummm…"

"What…?"

"It went down…" Bankotsu said so softly, Jakotsu thought he imagined he had replied.

"What?!"

"Ren killed it…" the younger boy pulled out of his paramour, and sat back on his heels. "I don't know… something about him…"

Jakotsu sighed. "Yeah, it is weird not having him get mad and all, but who cares…?" He moved backwards until he was sitting on Bankotsu's lap. The eighteen year old playfully wiggled his hips, grinding his bottom carefully on his young lover's semi-erect cock. Giggling, he turned so that he was facing Bankotsu. "We're together and all is right in the world…" he said as he captured his young lover's lips with his own.